Karl: Keep believing

26 November 2013

mkdons.com

Karl Robinson has urged his players to ‘keep believing’ as they look to regain their march on the top six.

Robinson’s MK Dons side lost ground on the play-off places last weekend following a frustrating 3-2 defeat to Bradford City. The Dons twice fought back from a goal down against the Bantams but an 85th minute strike from Jason Kennedy condemned them to a sixth League defeat of the season.

The men from MK1 have struggled to find consistency in 2013/14 and are yet to record back-to-back victories in the League but Robinson believes that if his players continue to do the right things, their luck will soon begin to turn.

Speaking ahead of tonight’s match with Colchester United, the 33-year-old Dons boss said: “We’ve just got to believing. I don’t think anybody in that ground on Saturday could argue we deserved to win.

“On Sunday morning we looked at the strengths and weaknesses of our performance and the strengths took us about 25 minutes and the weaknesses only took us two or three minutes. It just seems to be that whenever we make a mistake, it’s leading to a goal.

“From the first whistle to the last whistle on Saturday not one person shirked responsibility. They worked their socks off and I do believe we have good enough players to turn this around.

“We’ve just got to keep going, keep marching on and keep doing the right things. We’ve been in since Sunday, we’ve worked professionally, and we’ve put it in every ounce of energy we’ve got.

“We’ve still got four of our starting XI out but we’re still dominating teams like Bradford City, who are in the top six. Once I get everybody fit at this Football Club, we will be a good, good side.”

While the Dons are still waiting on a quartet of first team players – Dean Bowditch, Antony Kay, David Martin and Luke Chadwick - to recover from injury, Robinson has been boosted by the return of young midfielder Dele Alli, who returned to competitive action for the first time in two months this past weekend.

The England Under-18 international marked his comeback with a dominant display out on the left wing and his manager Robinson believes he showed just why it was so important to get him back fit and playing.

He added: “You could see the importance of Dele’s role in the side on Saturday, that’s what we’ve missed for the last seven or eight weeks.

“He’s a player who is playing out of position and is still being very dominant. He did make one or two errors which he’ll learn from, but he’s a wonderful and unique talent and it’s good to see him back.”